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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the UK national lottery have lost the bloody plot.

85 replies

Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 18:20

It used to be in UK that the odds were 1 in 14 million which were, by lotto standards, not too bad.

Then they added the extra numbers a few years ago which made it almost 4 times harder to win at 1 in 45 million. Initially they said it was to boost jackpots which I was a bit meh about but I forgave them on the principle that they introduced the guaranteed million quid on each draw which was along with the price of the ticket.

At the weekend dh bought me a lotto ticket and it appears they have went and removed the raffle whilst keeping the bad odds. AIBU to think they knew all along the raffle million pound would be removed but they introduced it to compensate for the odds getting so bad and remove it when the public forgot?

I know the euro millions odds are bad too but in fairness they still do the raffle if a million quid and it serves all of Europe so the odds were never going to be great but aibu to think the uk national bog standard lottery is now a piece of shit?

OP posts:
LadyPoison · 16/08/2021 18:23

It always was - and the scratch cards are dreadful.

I was given 250 cards in a promotion once - I won £10 in total.

burritofan · 16/08/2021 18:24

It used to be that you weren’t going to win the lottery. Now, you’re not going to win the lottery. In the future, you’re still not going to win the lottery. Not sure what the issue is, really.

EscapeTheCastle · 16/08/2021 18:33

I used to enjoy a £1 flutter on the main draw. When the price went up I still played but when the odds changed I stopped. I do play the euro millions sometimes as I enjoy the raffle element. I like a deluded day dream!

FatAnkles · 16/08/2021 18:38

Bloody con. Set for Life is also dodgy.

I put a quid on the Thunderbolt when I think about it. Odds are still high but £500k would still change my life so why not?

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 18:40

''Bloody con. Set for Life is also dodgy.''

I don't think it's a scam by any means, I believe it's all above board , just that it's shit. Why do you think SFL is dodgy?

OP posts:
WisestIsShe · 16/08/2021 18:42

I read one of the st Mary's books about time travel. People in the future described the lottery as a stealth tax to find stuff the government should already pay for. I had to agree.

MotionActivatedDog · 16/08/2021 18:44

Gambler complaining the odds aren’t in their favour. Nothing new there.

NinaBallerinaShoes · 16/08/2021 18:44

I run an office lottery syndicate. We usually win what we put in. It's our way of saving up for our Christmas do. We don't bother with Set for Life because most of us won't live for another 30 years!

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 18:48

''We don't bother with Set for Life because most of us won't live for another 30 years!''

don't be so sure, have you read the inheritance threads on mn- people are living longer than ever.

OP posts:
Viviennemary · 16/08/2021 18:50

Its rubbish. It was OK till they got greedy.

nancybotwinbloom · 16/08/2021 18:53

@WisestIsShe

I read one of the st Mary's books about time travel. People in the future described the lottery as a stealth tax to find stuff the government should already pay for. I had to agree.
I've never thought about that before but it is probably right.
Wimowehwimowehwimowehwimoweh · 16/08/2021 18:57

I do thundeball online.
It’s only £1 and the 500,000 would do me fine.
I do -stupidly-get overexcited when they email me to say they have news about my ticket, but it’s only ever a fiver. Still, I’ve won lots of fivers so I’m generally having my tickets paid for.

GameSetMatch · 16/08/2021 19:02

They do give a lot to charity, I know lots of groups and organisations that have benefitted from lotto money. I even think one of the Olympic gold medal winners thanked the lotto for their investment.

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 19:07

''They do give a lot to charity, I know lots of groups and organisations that have benefitted from lotto money.''

it's not really charity though, it's stuff the government should be paying for already with tax money.

OP posts:
TinySaltLick · 16/08/2021 19:07

@LadyPoison

It always was - and the scratch cards are dreadful.

I was given 250 cards in a promotion once - I won £10 in total.

The likelihood of this is unbelievably low, so low I don't believe you - the odds are around 1 in 4 of winning a prize on most games. So you'd have to have got only 10 winners (assuming you only ever got the lowest prize) instead of around 60.

Seems legit

Undisclosedlocation · 16/08/2021 19:07

Well it’s a business. It’s purpose is to make maximum money and keep the prize money as low as possible whilst not completely putting people off from buying a ticket.
So stealthy lowering the of the odds is to be expected, until people stop indulging in the purchase of a close to impossible dream

TinySaltLick · 16/08/2021 19:14

There is a lot of unsubstantiated mistruths on here - camelot are regulated and under the terms of their license have to be pretty transparent. Their financial reports clearly state the total held back for operating costs / profit - 95pc is distributed as part of prizes or for charitable causes, which hasn't really changed since it was set up. All games have published odds and you can see the total prizes eg on scratch cards which have been won to date.

Games do get tweaked over time but stating it has got more unfair / that they are gradually ratcheting up their profit over time doesnt really stack up

www.camelotgroup.co.uk/news/camelot-uk-lotteries-limited-2020-21-financial-results/

aerosocks · 16/08/2021 19:15

@Balgoresboy

''They do give a lot to charity, I know lots of groups and organisations that have benefitted from lotto money.''

it's not really charity though, it's stuff the government should be paying for already with tax money.

Charities exist because there isn't enough money for the government to fund them. Besides, there are a huge number which wouldn't qualify anyway, things like wildlife charities, sports clubs, support groups and so on.

Would you prefer it if the government raised taxes to pay for all of these things instead?

mintylovely · 16/08/2021 19:18

@WisestIsShe

I read one of the st Mary's books about time travel. People in the future described the lottery as a stealth tax to find stuff the government should already pay for. I had to agree.
A colleague calls it a tax on the poor, it made me think after the ticket price went up and the odds changed. I haven't bothered since then.
MargosKaftan · 16/08/2021 19:18

There are only so many ways you can become a multimillionaire:

A) earn it
B) marry it
C) inherit it
D) steal it
E) win it

Given the family I've been born into, the person I've fallen in love with, career choices I've made, and my inability to plan a successful heist - E is the only option left. Its unlikely, but "probably won't happen" is still better odds than "definitely won't happen" .

BarbaraofSeville · 16/08/2021 19:20

But as well as the main lottery, where the odds have increased, there's also the roll down, where if no-one wins for 5 draws, which happens quite often, the 5 and a bonus wins the jackpot, which is much shorter odds, and all the smaller prizes are boosted too.

Like a PP says, it used to be that you were very unlikely to win the lottery and it's still very unlikely that you'll win the lottery, so little has changed really, except that you have a much greater chance of winning a smaller but still life changing amount of money, which is far better than one person winning £100M or something stupid.

MargosKaftan · 16/08/2021 19:21

Also the millionaire raffle is still there, its on the euro millions though. Thought the additional lotto draw was just £50k, then got binned.

movingadviceneeded · 16/08/2021 19:21

I went to a wedding where guests were given £1 scratch cards as favours.

Altogether £50 was won, 130 guests.

All a swizz!!

BarbaraofSeville · 16/08/2021 19:22

The lottery changed a few years ago now. You now get a million for 5 and the bonus, instead of in the raffle. Why have you suddenly decided to complain about it?

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 19:23

''There is a lot of unsubstantiated mistruths on here - camelot are regulated and under the terms of their license have to be pretty transparent.''

I struggle to see any ''mistruths'' on this thread-please elaborate. And ofcourse it's l transparent but that doesn't make what they did of changing the odd and using the fleeting raffle prize stunt any less sneakier.

''Games do get tweaked over time but stating it has got more unfair / that they are gradually ratcheting up their profit over time doesnt really stack up''

Going from 1 in 14 millions odds to 1 in over 45 million odds and putting in a million pound guaranteed raffle to soften the blow and then taking it away soon after is very much ''unfair'' most people would agree. And changing the odds to such a huge extent is not what you'd call ''tweaked'' as the latter means a small change.

And it means they are indeed ''ratcheting up their profit'' by this little stunt.

''Their financial reports clearly state the total held back for operating costs / profit - 95pc is distributed as part of prizes or for charitable causes, which hasn't really changed since it was set up. ''

And their ''charitable causes'' are that on paper but as another poster said it's stuff the government should be funding anyway which is true. They use the charity chestnut to cover up how much the government themselves profit from the games.

OP posts: